Steinberg Cubase 8 Manual
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Sample Editor VariAudio (Cubase Pro only) 471 Applying editing, offline processes, and VariAudio The following offline processes and edits that affect the length of the audio file may lead to the reanalysis of the audio material: • Options on the Select Process menu, on the Process tab of the Sample Editor Inspector, or in the Process submenu of the Audio menu that can be applied to selections. • Effect processing using the options on the Select Plug-in menu on the Process tab of the Sample Editor Inspector or in the Plug-ins submenu of the Audio menu. • Cut, paste, and delete, or drawing notes. IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT Because of the reanalysis any existing VariAudio data becomes invalid. Therefore, you should always apply offline processing or edits before using the VariAudio features. If you apply editing that affects the audio itself (like cutting portions, etc.) to a file containing VariAudio data, the following warning message is displayed:
Sample Editor VariAudio (Cubase Pro only) 472 • If you activate the “Please don’t display this warning again” option in one of these warning dialogs before proceeding, Cubase will always proceed with the selected option. You can reactivate the warning messages by deactivating the “Inhibit warning when changing the Sample Data” or “Inhibit warning when applying Offline Processes” options in the Preferences dialog (VariAudio page). RELATED LINKS Audio processing and functions on page 401 Editing selection ranges on page 446 Drawing in the Sample Editor on page 444 Segments mode If you activate Segments mode on the VariAudio tab, your audio file is analyzed and split into separate segments. IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT Due to the data gained during this process, the audio and thus the size of your project can increase. Furthermore, the analysis of long audio files might take some time. When you want to change the pitch of audio that includes non-tonal portions, e. g. consonants or effect sounds like reverberation, you may have to edit the segmentation in order to include the non-tonal portions in the segments. Otherwise, pitch modifications will only affect the tonal portions. Editing the segmentation includes changing the start and end position of a segment, cutting or gluing segments, and moving or deleting them. Just select the section of the file that you want to change, activate Segments mode, and edit the segmentation for the desired section. If you are not satisfied with your changes, you can go back to the original segmentation. IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT Editing the segmentation always leads to a recalculation of the segment
Sample Editor VariAudio (Cubase Pro only) 473 Changing the note start or end point If you find that a note starts or ends too early or too late, e. g. when the reverb of a note or a consonant is not included in the segment, proceed as follows: PROCEDURE 1. On the VariAudio tab activate Segments mode. 2. To change the length of a segment, move the mouse pointer over the start/end of the segment. The mouse pointer becomes a double arrow. 3. Click and drag the segment start/end to the left or right. RESULT The segment length changes accordingly. As the average pitch is recalculated, the segment may jump upwards or downwards. Snap will not be taken into account. IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT If the resulting segment pitch cannot be calculated because of an increase in non-tonal data, the segment will be deleted. NOTE You can drag the segment start/end only until it reaches the start/end of the next segment. Segments cannot overlap each other. Cutting a segment If you notice that a segment includes more than one note, proceed as follows: PROCEDURE 1. On the VariAudio tab activate Segments mode. 2. Move the mouse pointer over the lower border of the segment that you would like to cut. The mouse pointer becomes a scissor. 3. Click at the desired position to cut the segment.
Sample Editor VariAudio (Cubase Pro only) 474 RESULT The segment is cut accordingly taking Snap into account. IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT When the resulting segment pitch cannot be calculated because of an increase in non-tonal data, the segment will be deleted. NOTE There is a minimum size for a segment. Very short segments cannot be cut. Gluing segments IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT We recommend to correct the segmentation before pitching. If you glue together segments after changing the pitch (this includes manual pitch modifications, Quantize Pitch, and Straighten Pitch), your modifications are reset and the original pitch will be heard. If you notice that a single note is spread over two segments, proceed as follows: PROCEDURE 1. On the VariAudio tab activate Segments mode. 2. Hold down [Alt]/[Option] and move the mouse pointer over the segment that you want to glue to the next. The mouse pointer becomes a glue tube. 3. Click to glue the active segment to the next segment. RESULT If several segments are selected, they are all glued together. Snap is not taken into account. IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT If the resulting segment pitch cannot be calculated because of an increase in non-tonal data, the segment will be deleted.
Sample Editor VariAudio (Cubase Pro only) 475 Moving segments horizontally After cutting a segment it may be necessary to move segments horizontally, for example, if you notice that a note is at the wrong position. PROCEDURE 1. On the VariAudio tab activate Segments mode. 2. Move the mouse pointer over the upper border of the segment. The mouse pointer becomes a double arrow. 3. Click and drag the whole segment to the left or right. RESULT The segment is moved accordingly. If several segments are selected, they are all moved together. Snap is not taken into account. IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT If the resulting segment pitch cannot be calculated because of an increase in non-tonal data, the segment will be deleted. NOTE You can only drag the segment start/end until it reaches the start/end of the next segment. Segments cannot overlap each other. Deleting segments Sometimes it might be useful to delete segments. This is the case in situations where you want the original audio to be played back, e. g. for non-tonal portions or consonants. PROCEDURE • You can delete segments by selecting them in Segments mode and pressing [Backspace]. Saving the segmentation The corrected segmentation is saved with the project, no additional saving is required.
Sample Editor VariAudio (Cubase Pro only) 476 Pitch & Warp tool If you activate the Pitch & Warp tool on the VariAudio tab, you can change the pitch and the timing of your audio. IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT Before changing the pitch or timing of your segments, make sure that the segments you want to change are correct You can edit the pitch and timing of audio segments for corrective purposes but also creatively. VariAudio allows you to experiment freely with note pitches in order to change the melody with or without preserving a natural sound. Furthermore, you can change the timing of the audio. NOTE
Sample Editor VariAudio (Cubase Pro only) 477 There are three different modes that affect the way in which a note will snap to a certain pitch that can be accessed using the following modifier keys: NOTE The default modifier key can be changed in the Preferences dialog (Editing–Tool Modifier page). 3. Drag the segment up or down to the desired pitch and release the mouse. However, be careful: The more the pitch deviates from the original pitch, the less likely it is that your audio sounds natural. RESULT If the Solo algorithm preset is not turned on already, a warning appears informing you that Cubase has selected it automatically. The segment is pitched accordingly. While dragging, the original micro-pitch curve of the segment is shown in orange. If several segments are selected, they are all pitched. You can also use the up/down arrow keys on your computer keyboard to edit the note pitches. Proceed as follows: • Use the up/down arrow keys to change the pitch in semitone steps. • Hold down [Shift] while using the up/down arrow keys to change the pitch in cent steps. IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT If you pitch-shift audio events with the Transpose options, the transposition is added to the pitch modifications that you introduced with the Pitch & Warp tool, even if this is not reflected in the segmentation display. RELATED LINKS Transpose Functions on page 271 Option Description Default modifier Absolute Pitch Snapping Pitches the segment to the next semitone.[Ctrl]/[Command] Relative Pitch SnappingSnaps the segment in relation to its current deviation in cents, i. e. if the segment has a pitch of C3 and a deviation of 2 2 %, and you move it up by one semitone, it will be pitched to C#3 while keeping the deviation of 22 %.None No Pitch Snapping Lets you edit the pitch freely.[Shift]
Sample Editor VariAudio (Cubase Pro only) 478 Quantize Pitch You can also quantize the audio pitch upwards or downwards to iteratively reduce the deviation from the nearest semitone position. PROCEDURE 1. Select the segments that you want to quantize. 2. Move the Quantize Pitch slider to the right. RESULT The selected segments are quantized iteratively. NOTE You can set up a key command for Quantize Pitch in the Sample Editor category of the Key Commands dialog. When using the key command, the segments are directly quantized to the next semitone position. RELATED LINKS Key Commands on page 997 Tilting the micro-pitch curve Sometimes changing the pitch of the whole note segment is not enough. In these cases you will have to modify how the pitch changes inside the segment. This is indicated by the micro-pitch curve. Changing the Micro-Pitch Curve IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT The micro-pitch curve displays the progression of the pitch for the tonal portion of the segment. For non-tonal portions of the audio, micro-pitch curves cannot be shown. PROCEDURE 1. On the VariAudio tab, activate the Pitch & Warp tool. 2. To change the micro-pitch of a segment, move the mouse pointer over the top left/right corner of the segment. The mouse pointer becomes an up/down arrow.
Sample Editor VariAudio (Cubase Pro only) 479 3. Drag upwards/downwards with the mouse to change the micro-pitch curve. If the pitch falls at the end of the segment… …activate the Pitch & Warp tool, point at the top right corner and drag upwards. Changing the Pitch-Curve for Segment Start or End If you want to change the pitch modulation only for the segment start or end, you can set an “anchor point” to specify which part of the segment is affected. PROCEDURE 1. Move the mouse pointer over the top border of the segment. The mouse pointer becomes an I-beam symbol. 2. Click at the position where you want to set an anchor. A vertical line appears at the position where you clicked. A segment can only have one anchor. 3. Move the mouse pointer over the top left/right corner of the segment and drag upwards or downwards to tilt the micro-pitch curve. The modulation curve is only changed from the segment border to the anchor. Move the mouse over the top border and click to set an anchor… …if you only want to compensate for the descending pitch at the end of the segment. If you press [Alt]/[Option] while dragging up/down, the tilt anchor is used as an axis around which the micro-pitch curve can be rotated.
Sample Editor VariAudio (Cubase Pro only) 480 If you set a tilt anchor… …and press [Alt]/[Option], the mouse pointer becomes a diagonal arrow… …to indicate that you can rotate the micro-pitch curve. 4. Repeat the steps above to set anchors and tilt the micro-pitch curve until you are satisfied with the result. If you want to remove a tilt anchor from a segment, hold down [Alt]/[Option], position the mouse pointer at the top border of the segment until it turns to a glue tube, and click. The tilt anchor is deleted. RELATED LINKS Understanding the waveform display in VariAudio on page 469 Straighten Pitch If you want to compensate for the rise and fall of notes, i. e. the deviation of the micro-pitch curve from the representative pitch, you can use the Straighten Pitch slider. This correction comes in handy when a note is played flat (pitch rises) or sharp (the pitch falls) at the end. PROCEDURE 1. Select the segments. 2. Move the Straighten Pitch slider to the right. This micro-pitch looks a bit off. By moving the Straighten Pitch slider to the right…